Tag Archives: Russia

“Carelessness on the part of revolutionaries has always been the best aid the police have.” — Victor Serge

Ever since my late-in-the-day discovery of Victor Serge (whose birthday it is today), a man I should have discovered much MUCH earlier, considering my interest in totalitarian regimes / dissident voices / revolution / Russia – I have read as … Continue reading

Posted in Books, On This Day, writers | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

“I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat or a prostitute.” — Rebecca West

It’s her birthday today. It is hard to talk about her without referencing the generations of writers she inspired, all of whom admit their debt. Robert Kaplan is the most open about it (in Balkan Ghosts, which launched his career, … Continue reading

Posted in Books, On This Day, writers | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 21 Comments

“The behavior of any bureaucratic organization can best be understood by assuming that it is controlled by a secret cabal of its enemies.” –Robert Conquest

“I think once you accept that you have the answer to everything, you can do anything to bring it about because your enemies are trying to stop you, are enemies of reason, of truth of everything – enemies of the … Continue reading

Posted in Books, On This Day, writers | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

“I knew that I had a facility with words and a power of facing unpleasant facts.” — George Orwell

Orwell was born on this day. When Animal Farm was released in a new edition, Christopher Hitchens (one of THE people you need to read if you want to understand Orwell, besides Orwell himself), wrote specifically about the quote from … Continue reading

Posted in Books, On This Day, writers | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

“And the role of the fatal chorus / I agree to take on” — Anna Akhmatova

“This I pray at your liturgy After so many tormented days, So that the stormcloud over darkened Russia Might become a cloud of glorious rays.” — Anna Akhmatova, “Prayer” Anna Akhmatova – born Anna Andreyevna Gorenko on this day – … Continue reading

Posted in Books, On This Day, writers | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

May 2024 Viewing Diary

Forward Fast (2024; d. Lorraine Sovern) I met Lorraine at the Florida Film Festival. Someone I was talking to at a party told me about her work and about this short film. He then pulled her over to our group … Continue reading

Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

“Manuscripts don’t burn.” — Mikhail Bulgakov

…Speaking of Mohammad Rasoulof… It’s Mikhail Bulgakov’s birthday. The author of The Master and Margarita, one of the greatest novels of the 20th century. (It’s not his only work. There are many others. But I’ll be focusing on Master and … Continue reading

Posted in Books, On This Day, writers | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

“I am not descended from flesh. I am God.”: It’s Vaslav Nijinsky’s Birthday

From Tennessee Williams’ semi-autobiographical last play, Something Cloudy, Something Clear: CLARE. [to Kip] I’m about to deliver a lecture to him on making concessions in art. KIP. For or against? CLARE. I think any kind of artist — a painter … Continue reading

Posted in On This Day | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

“Sometimes, in describing what I do, I resort to the Latin phrase ‘silva rerum’: the forest of things. That’s my subject: the forest of things.” — Ryszard Kapuściński

One of my favorite writers. His death in 2007 was devastating to me. I went to the memorial tribute at the New York Public Library, hosted by his close personal friend Salman Rushdie. I am not sure I can sufficiently … Continue reading

Posted in Books, On This Day, writers | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

2023 Books Read

I think I might have read more books by non-American authors than American this year. Countries represented below: Austria, Hungary, Poland, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Croatia, Ireland, France, Russia, Colombia. I revisited some old favorites, which I will continue to do in … Continue reading

Posted in Books, James Joyce | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments